Vol. XXV — No. 3 
REGISTERED 
I N 
PATENT 
OFFICE 
March, 1914 
I F the trite re¬ 
mark be true, 
that “every man’s 
house is his cas¬ 
tle,’’ it is natural 
and proper that 
the owner should 
care little, or not 
at all. what takes 
place outside his 
walls. He is con¬ 
tent to beautify 
his own house 
and garden with¬ 
out reference to 
civic or communi¬ 
ty improvement in 
general. This in- 
d i f f e r e n t i s m 
might be justified 
were local gov¬ 
ernments as effi¬ 
cient in practice 
as they are ele¬ 
vating in theory. 
While the present 
conditions pre¬ 
vail, howeve r, 
there seems to be 
no doubt that the 
mere fact of resi¬ 
dence in a com¬ 
munity carries 
with it duties to 
the general civic welfare which are 
as much the concern of the individual 
as the municipality. 
This personal control of community 
affairs is no new thing. It reaches 
back into the remote past when our 
Teutonic ancestors organized their 
“gemoots” for the treatment of tribal 
problems, whether physical or moral, 
and these bodies are the prototypes of 
contemporary systems of government. 
A modern instance of such an im¬ 
promptu organization may be cited. 
Several years ago a new section of 
one of the larger suburban cities was 
developed as a high-class residential 
park. In its very center, at the inter¬ 
section of three drives, an investor 
purchased a particularly attractive 
plot, intending to hold it for increased 
value. Within a few years nearly one 
hundred houses were erected and oc¬ 
cupied, thirty of them being in view 
from this vacant lot, which, strange 
as it may seem, became a common 
dumping ground for the odds and 
ends discarded by 
the neighbors. A 
high growth of 
underbrush a n d 
weeds partly hid 
this rubbish from 
sight. 
The condition 
of this lot became 
a subject of dis¬ 
cussion. The 
owner was writ¬ 
ten, and request¬ 
ed to clean it up, 
but, as his taxes 
a n d assessments 
were becoming 
heavy, he lacked 
enthusiasm when 
additional expen¬ 
ditures were sug¬ 
gested. 
Finally t he 
neighbors clubbed 
together, each 
contributing one 
dollar, the funds 
being placed i n 
the hands of a 
committee, which 
immediately em¬ 
ployed laborers to 
clean out the rub¬ 
bish and cut down 
the weeds and underbrush. Twelve 
wagon-loads of rubbish were carted 
away, including almost every imagin¬ 
able object, from bed springs to dis¬ 
carded bathtubs. 
With this rough work completed, 
the possibilities of still further im¬ 
provement became evident. To-dav 
this plot is carpeted with a perfect 
lawn, shaded by tall forest trees, and 
is one of the beauty spots of the neigh¬ 
borhood. 
From this beginning a permanent 
improvement was organized. 
In the field of its activity there are 
nearly ioo residences, each of which 
is represented by one number. The 
particular lines of improvement which 
they have accomplished include the 
cleaning up of vacant plots, planting 
of grass seed along the sidewalks be¬ 
tween the pavement and curb, the erec¬ 
tion of street signs giving clear guid¬ 
ance to street numbers, and the plant¬ 
ing of flowers in odd bits of vacant 
land. 
The neatness of this New England street is evidence of the good 
work of a local improvement organization 
During the Clean-Up Week," instituted by an improvement association, carts bearing the legend “Clean empty 
lots ’ collect the rubbish that has been gathered 
For the Good of the Neighborhood 
WHAT CO-OPERATION CAN DO FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF A TOWN— 
THE FORMATION OF A NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION—WHAT CAN BE 
DONE WITH VACANT LOTS, RUN-DOWN STREETS, ETC. 
by Herbert E. Angell 
063 ) 
